Police Beat 02/20/14

A Conway man reported to police he fell victim to a telephone scammer who claimed to represent Publisher’s Clearing House out of Jamaica.

According to the Conway Police Department incident report, the victim, 52, stated a woman named Vivian Walker told him he won $500,000 and a 2014 Mercedes Benz.

The victim was instructed by Walker to go to Dollar General on Skyline Drive and put $800 on a Paypal gift card and read her the number.

When the victim told Walker he did not have that much money, the woman agreed he could put $150 on the card.

The victim drove to Dollar General with Walker on the phone, purchased the PayPal card and gave her the number, the report states.

After the transaction was complete, he was advised to go home and wait for the prize patrol.

The man told police when prize patrol did not show up, he knew he had been scammed.

• Disorderly conduct at 205 E Oak Street, Taco Bell.

An employee of the business told police an older male driving a white Nissan Altima threatened her.

The victim said she turned to speak with her manager when the subject gave her money for his order, and when she turned back around he accused her of checking his money.

According to the report the subject began holding up different bills, and then said he wanted to talk to her manager because she was rude. When the manager finished speaking to the subject, he told the victim, “I will see you when you get off work.”

• Shoplifting at 1155 Skyline Drive, Walmart.

Loss prevention employees told police a female concealed three Dremel tool accessories and led the store without paying for them. The subject then returned a short time later and attempted to return the items for a refund.

• Public intoxication at 460 block of Harkrider Street.

Police responded to the area in reference to a report that a man huffing compressed air had passed out in his vehicle and was not responding. Police observed a male sitting up in the driver’s seat of his vehicle leaning over the center console. Police woke the man, and he was evaluated by MEMS.

Two victims filed reports with Conway police after having items taken from their vehicles parked in the trail’s parking lot. The first of two victims told police she left her vehicle unlocked, and someone stole her iPad 2, her purse and her wallet. A second victim said her purse was stolen from her vehicle, and she did not remember if the vehicle was left unlocked.

• Shoplifting at 1155 Skyline Drive, Walmart.

Loss prevention employees observed a male subject attempting to remove the security device off of a car radio. Police made contact with the subject in the parking lot and issued a criminal trespass warning. The subject did not take or damage the radio, but the security device may have been damaged, the report states.

Someone from the church contacted police after an unknown person entered the church’s building by force and put a hole in the wall. Electrical wires had been cut to the church, and several tools were missing.

• Breaking or entering a structure at 2000 block of Arkansas Avenue.

The victim told police someone entered his shed in the back yard and stole four chrome rims. The door on the shed did not lock.

The victim told police he stopped at the business while moving across country and briefly left the hatchback of his vehicle unlocked. Someone entered the vehicle and stole his Apple laptop.

• Fraudulent use of a credit card, Arvest.

The victim, who lives out of town, told police her debit card and driver’s license were stolen in Saline County earlier this year. She recently received a notice that her account was in overdraft, and she learned that two checks written from accounts of people she did not know had been cashed on her closed Arvest account. It is presumed that the checks were also stolen and that the victim’s license was used to cash the checks at the Arvest bank on Oak Street.